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A new Southern brunch and a Netflix competition slow roast Austin food news

As always, Uptown Sports Club is serving just the classics at its extravagant new Southern brunch.

Photo by Kim Light Pearson

There's so much going on in Austin right now, this food news column could be its own daily publication. Still, there was some obvious must-share news that we were able to narrow it down to. Who could say no to a Southern brunch or a temporary look into a bar that's usually private? Here's the week's top food news.

Openings and closings

Austin's extremely popular — adored, revered, or exalted, even — Roosevelt Room is getting a makeover, and will close temporarily to get it done. In the meantime, orphaned Austinites who find themselves suddenly without a favorite bar can nurse their abandonment issues at The Eleanor, the usually-private event space next door. From June 30 to July 14, this space will open up for full service with a new menu, following the Roosevelt Room's regular hours. Just be sure not to fall in love with the moody, luxe space, because soon it'll turn back into a pumpkin. Keep your eyes peeled for more to come, as soon as we get more info about the renovations in store.

Florida-based chain Southern Steer Butcher has broken out of the pasture and settled in Lakeway, for its first-ever Texas store. This chain emphasizes the butcher shop experience: not just picking a package of meat out at the store, but consulting with the experts about what cut will best suit your needs. Having just opened June 15, this store is focusing just on the artisanal meats and pairings. Eventually, it may add to-go meals and classes as displayed on the website in more established locations. Located at 2300 Lohman’s Spur, this store is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 am to 7 pm, and Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm.

ICYMI: The team at Sightseer Coffee Roasters had visions of a feminist coffee bar, and now it's executed them at Sugar Mama's Bakeshop. The new bar serves ten roasts by women producers, plus some signature cocktails. Italophiles have something to look forward to this weekend when Uncle Nicky’s opens its South Lamar location. After nearly a year of anticipation, it opens June 22. In other coffee news, CultureMap Austin got to announce the debut of Cabana Club, a new effort by the folks at Progress Coffee and Beer. This poolside bar and eatery is embracing the casual vibes all the way, and guests won't have to share the pool with kids. (Sorry...not sorry.)

Other news and notes

One of Austin's favorite pitmasters — and getting more popular by the day — Kareem El-Ghayesh of KG BBQ is competing in the Netflix seriesBarbecue Showdown. In addition to his unique barbecue style, this pitmaster is known for his charisma, and is taking more and more chances to be onstage or onscreen. Whatever reputation barbecue has for calm, low, and slow cooking is going out the window in this high-stakes competition for....only $50,000? Watch El-Ghayesh and the other seven competitors in the season trailer on YouTube, and tune on Netflix starting July 4.

Speaking of camera-ready pitmasters, Aaron Franklin's Uptown Sports Club will now be offering brunch. (I'm also announcing a personal address change, because I will be living there.) Offerings include Uptown breakfast plate with two eggs, sausage, bacon, and homemake biscuits; a two-piece fried chicken plate; steak and eggs; shrimp and grits; avocado toast using bread from Margarita Kallas-Lee's neighboring bakery, Wolf and Wheat; and peaches and cream pancakes. This all starts June 22. The announcement also accompanied new hours: 10:30 am to "late," with brunch ending at 3 pm.

The Austin Chronicle has released its annual Best of Austin list, with both reader and critic picks. Although the food category has broken off into is own issue (for industry picks mostly by chefs, see CultureMap's Tastemaker Awards), there are a good number of food and beverage callouts, especially in the nightlife section. Some winners include Roosevelt Room, Nickel City, and Haymaker on the readers' side; and Double Trouble, Tweedy's, and Sign Bar on the critics' side.

Los Angeles chefs Sarah Hymanson and Sara Kramer of Kismet and Kismet Rotisserie will be visiting Austin from June 26-29. First, they'll stop by First Light Books on June 26 to discuss their new cookbook, Kismet, with Austin chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel of Birdie's. The talk is free, but a ticket ($35) will get you a reserved seat and a copy of the book. Either way, RSVP here. After that, on June 28 and 29, the three of them are heading over to Birdie's for a collaborative dinner menu that hasn't been disclosed yet. Birdie's will not be accepting reservations; Just stop by for service as usual, with some "vegetable forward" dishes.

Peak Plates

7 Austin restaurants make OpenTable's top 100 for 2024

Jeffrey's Restaurant/Instagram

Jeffrey's Restaurant is a great example of the type of fancy, well-established restaurant that made the list.

Restaurant reservation website OpenTable has issued its new list of the top 100 restaurants in America for 2024, and seven Austin restaurants have made the list. That's already impressive at a glance — 7 percent of the entire national list in just one city — but compared to other Texas cities, it's huge. Austin is the only Texas city to have more than one restaurant on the list.

The "2024's Top 100 Restaurants" list is a compilation of the most sought-after and top-ranked restaurants in the U.S. based on 14 million verified reviews on OpenTable from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. Restaurants are not ranked, but arranged in alphabetical order by state.

Austin's seven restaurants (including several repeats from OpenTable's 2023 list) are:

Aba: Known for its laid-back, yet fancy patio and being a popular spot for visiting celebrities
J Carver's: Known for a commitment to the classic steakhouse experience and legitimately fancy dining
Jeffrey's Restaurant: Known for fine dining, a connection to Austin before its boom, and a fantastic wine program
Red Ash Italia: Known for approachable, yet high-quality Italian food with rustic touches
Sammie's Italian: Known for its romantic take on the archetype of an East Coast Italian joint
Uchi: Known for bringing Austin into the national sushi conversation and defining the scene
Uchiko: Known for a cool atmosphere and getting creative with sushi and other small plates

Austinites will probably not be surprised by this list, which names some very well-established restaurants that are all upscale. These qualities tend to appeal to similar lists, regardless of who's curating them.

It is interesting, given that the list was democratically based on user ratings, that there were not more beloved food trailers or casual spots. However, other factors that led to high rankings included alerts set and reservations made ahead — things that don't really apply to even the most awesome taco truck.

Mediterranean food was a trend among the Austin picks. Red Ash Italia and Sammie's Italian are, as the names would imply, completely dedicated to Italian food, while Aba covers a wider swath of the Mediterranean. There were also two steakhouses: J Carver's and Jeffrey's Restaurant.

As list-perusers may have guessed, Uchi and Uchiko are in the same family of restaurants, with Uchi being the more formal and Uchiko being a bit more accessible for drop-in meals and cocktails. But are two more incognito duos of sibling restaurants on the list: J Carver's and Red Ash, and Jeffrey's Restaurant and Sammie's Italian.

That could be a coincidence. It could also be a reflection of the utility of money and experience in opening a good restaurant, or a lesson about the effects of good (and expensive) marketing. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like hospitality groups had any direct sway on how OpenTable made its choices.

This list was different from the inaugural list of OpenTable Icons, which launched in 2024. The "Icons" list chose restaurants that are getting a lot of buzz, which ended up being more subjective. It also seemed to let in — as a side effect of the process, rather than a hard eligibility rule — more new and Mexican restaurants. Two restaurants are on both lists: Red Ash and Jeffrey's.

Restaurants outside of Austin that made the Top 100 list, organized alphabetically, are:

Hudson House — Dallas
Steak 48 — Houston
Signature — San Antonio

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